Djentleman’s Club: Pyramids

Delhi prog metal band Pyramids – (from left) Amir Anwar, Arnav Puri, Samarth Trehan and Amol Vikram Singh. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

Who: The Delhi prog metal band was formed by school friends and bassist Amol Vikram Singh and guitarist Arnav Puri in 2012. While they’ve run through their share of lineup changes, Pyramids networked through college and the Delhi metal scene to rope in guitarists Tushar Saxena and Mohit George, vocalist Amir Anwar and drummer Samarth Trehan. They set their band name and 2014 concept EP Sub Rosa [mixed and mastered by Keshav Dhar] after their fascination with conspiracy theories. Says Singh, “The EP is about how the world is controlled by a select group of people. We believe it should be public knowledge.”

Why Djent? Singh’s idea of the best music needs to check the boxes of technicality and “nice grooves.” While he says most people will identify Pyramids as a djent band, he points out that they have varied influences of electronic music as well as metal. Says Singh, “We didn’t want to stick to one genre.” Like Define Destiny, Singh also first got into metal acts such as Lamb of God, Trivium and As I Lay Dying before coming around to discovering Periphery and Meshuggah. While Pyramids lists three guitarists to chug riffs in their lineup, Singh says that since Mohit George is away studying business in Pune, they’re playing with two guitarists at the moment.

Spin this: “Area 51,” their grooviest yet, is a great example of the band’s evolution from their metalcore roots to odd time signature beats and female vocals courtesy singer Sarina Grewal.

This article appeared in the March 2015 issue of ROLLING STONE India. Read about more djent from Delhi here.